


Born on the Fourth of July

by jimmytiberius



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Just a bit of silliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-02-10 01:25:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2005683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jimmytiberius/pseuds/jimmytiberius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy's phone passcode is Steve's birthday. It's kind of sweet, but they haven't been dating for that long...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Born on the Fourth of July

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by my realization that Chris Evans' birthday is the same as my grandmother's. Incidentally, we use my grandmother's birthday for a lot of passcodes in my family, and it's the unlock code for my phone. So I wondered what he would think if he saw me type it into my phone without knowing that was why, and then wondered what Cap would think in a similar situation, and then I wrote this. Not beta'ed or even proofread because I'm lazy and this was silly and spur of the moment. So lemme know if you catch any errors.

When Darcy first starts dating Steve, she knows in a sort of vague way when his birthday is. But since it’s October and his birthday is in July, it doesn’t seem like important information. She figures she has a few months before she has to figure out what kind of present a girl could possibly get the Star Spangled Man with a Plan.

~

Darcy’s still finishing her hair in preparation for their double date as Steve waits in the living room. She hears her phone chirp through the bathroom door – crap, that’s probably Jane wondering where they are.  
“Is that Jane? Can you text her back that we’ll be there in ten?” Darcy yells in Steve’s direction.  
“Sure, what’s your passcode?”  
“Oh seven oh four!” There’s a pause, and Steve might say something else, but Darcy’s just turned on the blow dryer and she can’t hear him over it.

~

The first time she buys anything with her debit card in front of him, she punches in her the pin – 0704 – and takes the receipt from the cashier. Steve is looking at her more intently than usual.  
“What?” Darcy grabs the grocery bag from the counter. “Do I have something on my face?”  
“No, I – Here, let me get that.” Steve rearranges his expression into what she thinks of as his ‘I know I’m not supposed to act like you’re weak but please let me be chivalrous’ face. She surrenders the bag, because why not.

~

It’s a hot, sticky June day when she takes him home to meet her parents. There’s no one home yet when they get there, thanks to Tony surprising them with his private jet and insisting they can’t possibly just wait for the commercial fight they have booked later in the day, so Darcy leads Steve around to the garage and flips open the keypad to enter the code for the automatic door. Steve’s staring at her hand as she does, and she wonders why as she taps the numbers without even thinking about it. The code hasn’t changed since she was a kid.

“Okay, I have to ask,” Steve says, sounding totally confused. “When it was your phone passcode, that was kind of unexpected, but sweet. When it was the pin number for your card, that was, not gonna lie, a little weird, but I went with it. But this is definitely not normal, Darcy, or else I’m just missing something completely.”

Darcy turns away from the loudly rattling garage door rising next to her head and raises her eyebrows. “Dude, what the hell are you talking about?”

He looks pained. “Darcy, why is your parents’ garage door code my birthday?”

She stops. Looks at the number pad. Looks back at Steve. “Oh my god, it totally is.” That explains his reactions to, well, a bunch of stuff. “Steve, it’s my grandma’s birthday too.”

“Your grandmother’s birthday is July 4th?” The line between his eyebrows is starting to go away, and a blush is creeping up the sides of his neck.

“Um, yeah. It’s kind of a thing in my family to use it as the code for any lock or whatever that needs four digits. Grandpa started it forever ago for the lock on some suitcases he had that my dad ended up with, and we all started using it. My sister has it on her phone, too.” Darcy bites her lip, trying not to laugh. “It didn’t even occur to me that you’d notice it on mine and think it was because of you.”

“Okay.” Bright red, Steve rubs the back of his neck. “Now I feel like the most self-absorbed asshole on the face of the planet.”  


“Not at all!” Darcy says brightly, taking him by the hand and pulling him into the cool of the garage. “Totally valid assumption. Definitely kind of creepy without the explanation, though. I mean, my phone passcode has been the same since before I even met you. That would’ve been seriously stalker level.”  


Steve chuckles, following her to the kitchen door. “Yeah, there’s definitely a line. Although I’ve always been pretty forgiving when it comes to you.”  


“As you should be.” She winks over her shoulder as she steps over the threshold in to the house. “Plus, it’s actually kind of handy for you.”  


“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“It’s my access code for the restricted areas of the Tower. So the next time Tony locks you out of somewhere because he thinks you’d disapprove of what he’s up to, you can use mine. It’s not like you’ll forget your own birthday.” Darcy grins up at him and flips on the kitchen light. “Ta-da. Welcome to Chez Lewis. My parents should be home in a couple hours. Until then…” A wicked glint comes into her eyes. “How’d you like to see my childhood bedroom?”


End file.
